View of Petit Champ des Morts cemetery and the old city of Istanbul from Pera (Beyoğlu)

Description

Featured in the 1836 collaborative work of Thomas Allom and Robert Walsh, this steel engraving depicts the panoramic view stretching from the 'Petit Champ des Morts' (Little Cemetery) area in Tepebaşı on the heights of Pera to the Historical Peninsula. While a monumental Ottoman fountain notable for its fine stonework and civilians drinking water and resting around it are illustrated in the left foreground; the historical cemetery fabric covered with cypress trees is situated in the midground. In the background, the urban silhouette shaped by the waters of the Golden Horn, the Valens Aqueduct, and the magnificent mosques of the empire extends, aesthetically visualizing the water endowment (waqf) culture, architecture, and daily life in the Ottoman capital.